The components of butter flavor are both oil-soluble and water-soluble. In butter or margarine, the water-soluble components are found in the aqueous phase of the emulsion which forms a sink for these materials. They remain soluble in the emulsion and therefore are not volatilized or lost.
Unfortunately, the most common and most important components of artificial butter flavors are diacetyl, butyric and hexanoic acids which are water-soluble and highly volatile. Moreover, in higher concentrations they have a rancid or offensive odor.
When a butter flavor is added to a non-aqueous medium, i.e. a fat or an oil, there is no place for the water-soluble components to be trapped. Because these components have high vapor pressures, they rapidly volatilize and collect in the headspace of the container or above the cooking surface. The concentration of these components is high in the headspace of the container and/or air surrounding the cooking surface, and low in the oil. When the container is opened a rancid butter aroma is perceived. After repeated openings, the volatile portions of the aroma may be lost altogether, leaving an unbalanced butter flavor in the oil.
One of the problems with grilling fats and oils is that the oils are often heated prior to cooking the food. Often this high temperature exposure causes the more highly volatile components to volatilize away from the oil before the food is added. Also, if the shortening or oil is a solid, or a liquid containing solid fat, commercial operations tend to hold a small portion of the fat in a melted state for a period of about three hours for easy handling. This also increases the loss of these key components through volatilization of these materials. This heating also applies to popcorn vending machines wherein the hot buttered oil is used to cook the popcorn and as a popcorn dressing.
There have been various ways proposed to solve this problem. One method added the butyric acid as the sodium salt so that it could not volatilize. The mixture does, however, require buffering. See U.S. Pat. No. 2,527,785, issued to Armstrong in 1950.
Others have solved this problem by totally encapsulating the flavor. The flavor is then released during cooking by the water in the food and by the saliva in the mouth during eating. However, there is no buttery aroma in the can or on the grill.
Surprisingly it has been found that the encapsulation of the non-volatile and volatile components in combination with a minor amount of all the components in an unencapsulated form provides an authentic butter flavor that is balanced in aroma and flavor throughout use--at room temperature in the can, heating prior to usage, during cooking and in the food.
It is an object of this invention therefore to produce a butter-flavored oil which will deliver a balanced butter aroma and eating flavor throughout the use cycle.
It is a further object of this invention to produce a butter-flavored oil in which the aroma and flavor remains authentic during the heating on the grill or in commercial operation.
These and other objects of this invention will become apparent from the detailed description which follows.